Once and Always
by HuntressDiana
Summary: They were Kings and Queens of Narnia, and now they have returned to England, they are ordinary children again... Peter reflects.


**Once and Always**

**By HuntressDiana**

**Disclaimer- none of the characters mentioned belong to me, they are all property of C.S. Lewis.**

Peter Pevensie knelt on his bed, leaning half out of the open window into the night. A muffled groan from behind him made his head whip around, only to see his younger brother, mumbling in complaint, pull the blanket higher over his shoulders. After a second, Edmund stilled once more and Peter resumed his contemplation.

They had spent years in Narnia; that much he knew, although he couldn't put an exact number upon the span of time. He had been High King Peter the Magnificent and his days as an ordinary schoolboy, evacuated from London, had seemed very distant. Now he was back, an evacuee once more, a teenager who still had the thoughts of a warrior and a King.

Edmund stirred again, and this time Peter couldn't help but slip off the bed and drape his spare coverlet over the younger boy. It was instinct of two lifetimes now to look after his younger siblings. He'd promised his mother he would, and he'd also vowed to himself, after the battle against the White Witch, when Edmund had been wounded, that he would protect them above all others. And he had done well. Although Edmund always had been by his side on the battlefield, and Susan and Lucy often fought to protect Narnia with the archers, none of them had ever been that seriously wounded again. Edmund had seen through what he was tying to do very swiftly, and had taken it upon himself not to let Peter put himself in harm's way again, after a nasty wound he had taken to the leg.

Peter reached down, rubbing the spot where he should have had a scar. They'd been fighting on the Northern border of Narnia, while Lucy and Susan reigned in Cair Paravel. They nearly hadn't made it back in time and it was only Lucy's cordial that had saved him. Edmund was not known as 'the Just' for nothing. As Peter was recovering he had entered the sick room and very calmly assured Peter that, while his siblings appreciated the fact that he didn't want them to come to harm, if he was ever to do something so foolish again, High King or not, the other three would overrule him and lock him in his room if necessary. Peter had first spluttered with indignation and then with pure mirth, only to have his sisters run into the room, swiftly followed by two panicking doctors, who found the four of their rulers all piled on top of each other.

Peter's smile faded slightly as his thoughts returned to the reason why he was still awake in the early hours of the morning. He wasn't High King of Narnia anymore. As alienated as the four had felt when first arriving in Narnia, he felt much worse now. He wasn't sure he knew how to be just Peter anymore. He didn't feel a part of his own world anymore. How could he? He'd lived for years in Narnia, only to return to his teenage self once more. He now had to live all those years again, but in this world.

He heard a door open and at once, battle instincts still honed, moved swiftly off the bed, reaching out to the wall where his sword should be. His fingers grasped only air as two heads poked around the door.

"Su! Lucy!" he hissed, a hand going to his chest and feeling his pounding heart.

"Told you he wasn't asleep!" Lucy proclaimed to her older sister before half skipping, half running over to Peter, clamping her arms firmly around his waist.

Susan merely smiled, moving into the boys' room, bearing a candle. As the light hit Edmund's face, he groaned theatrically, rolling over and flinging an arm across his eyes.

"By the Lion!" He exclaimed in mock anger "Will I be allowed to get any sleep tonight?"

Lucy giggled, running to bounce beside the dark haired boy.

"No!"

"Why are you here?" Peter asked Susan, who was in the middle of making herself comfortable on his bed.

"Well, Edmund told us this morning about your restlessness last night, so tonight we heard that you were up again and thought we'd come in to see you." Susan rested a gentle hand upon his shoulder. "Just to let you know you're not alone."

The older two looked up at a barely suppressed snort from the other bed.

"You little rotter!" Peter exclaimed, "You were awake all along weren't you?"

Edmund nodded unrepentantly.

"There was no way a chap could sleep with all that sighing going on."

Peter just reached out, seeing the complaint for what it really was, and grabbing Edmund's wrist, pulled him out of his own bed, ignoring his half hearted protests, to dump him next to Susan on Peter's own bed. He held a hand out to Lucy next, who came willingly, resting her head on her older brother's shoulder before they all leaned back on the bed, comfortably squashed.

Peter awoke a few hours later, as the dawn's light hit his window. He'd had an eastern facing room in Cair Paravel also, so was used to the gentle awakening of the sun's rays. He looked down, seeing that his right arm was looped around Edmund's shoulders, whilst Susan's arm rested over his younger brother, her hand landing on his chest. Lucy was curled up on his left side, holding his hand. As the light began to stir his family he smiled, feeling at peace. If they had survived the White Witch, battles with the Calormenes and the intrigues that occurred in any court, including that of Narnia, Peter was sure that together, the four of them could survive anything.

After all, it was as Aslan himself had said on the day of their coronation '_Once a King or Queen in Narnia, always a King or Queen in Narnia.'_

He was sure that they would find their way back to Narnia someday, and although they might check the wardrobe every day for the rest of their stay in Professor Kirke's home, he was sure that when it did happen, it would be a wonderful surprise.

**What did you think? Please do let me know in a review,**

**HuntressDiana xxx**


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